Course type
IWH-DPE Elective Course (Banking & Finance Topic Track)
Lecturer
Professor Merih Sevilir, PhD (IWH, ESMT Berlin)
Summary
This course provides a broad view of entrepreneurial finance and venture capital (VC)-backed startups (also referred to as high-growth and high-impact startups). It aims to facilitate an understanding of how entrepreneurs raise financing from investors, how investors select startups, and how financing contributes to a startup’s success. It discusses the contribution of VC- backed startups to the economy, society and well-being of people.
The course also encourages critical reflection and discussion on the nuanced nature of success in entrepreneurship. It explores how the definition of success is often ambiguous and multidimensional, making it challenging to clearly distinguish between success and failure. Students will be invited to brainstorm and debate different perspectives on what constitutes entrepreneurial success, considering financial outcomes, social impact, personal fulfillment, and long-term sustainability.
Schedule
08.04.2026 10:30-12:00 IWH, Leipziger Str. 100, 3rd floor, Conference Room
22.04.2026 10:30-12:00 IWH, Leipziger Str. 100, 3rd floor, Conference Room
06.05.2026 10:30-12:00 IWH, Leipziger Str. 100, 3rd floor, Conference Room
20.05.2026 10:30-12:00 IWH, Leipziger Str. 100, 3rd floor, Conference Room
Content
- What is entrepreneurial finance?
- Staged Financing and Allocation of Control Rights in Entrepreneurial Finance
- What do venture capitalists do?
- Exit and Scaleup of Startups
Course requirements
Attendance at all lectures is mandatory and a prerequisite to take the exam.
At the end of the course, the participants will be provided with a list of published and recent working papers on the broad topic of entrepreneurial finance. Each participant will choose a paper based on his/her interest and provide a critical assessment of the paper.
Required Reading
1. What is entrepreneurial finance?
Lerner, J. and Nanda, R. (2020). Venture Capital’s Role in Financing Innovation: What We Know and How Much We Still Need to Learn. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 34(3), 237-261.
2. Staged Financing and Allocation of Control Rights in Entrepreneurial Finance
Gompers, P. A. (1995). Optimal Investment, Monitoring, and the Staging of Venture Capital. Journal of Finance. 50(5), 1461–1489.
Ewens, M. and Malenko, N. (2020). Board Dynamics over the Startup Life Cycle.
3. What do venture capitalists do?
Hellmann, T. and Puri, M. (2002). Venture Capital and the Professionalization of Start-up Firms: Empirical Evidence. Journal of Finance. 57(1), 169–197.
Bernstein, S., Giroud, X. and Townsend, R. R. (2016). The Impact of Venture Capital Monitoring. Journal of Finance. 71(4), 1591–1622.
4. Exit and Scaleup of Startups
Bernstein, S. (2022). The Effects of Public and Private Equity Markets on Firm Behavior. Annual Review of Financial Economics. 14(1), 295-318.
Registration
Please register for the course until March 31, 2026 by sending an e-mail to cgde@iwh-halle.de.